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Ephesians 5:1 — Word Study

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N1904Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

BSAdo beginomai [follow, imitate] thereforeoun [then, as a consequence] imitatorsmimētēs <the>ho of Godtheos [the one true deity] ashōs [like, in the manner of] childrenteknon [born of God, His kids] belovedagapētos [cherished, dearly loved]

Word
Listen & take awayEphesians 5
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 1 opens the chapter.
Greek ↓ Download MP3 Nestle 1904 — the very text on this page — read by Andy Martin in Erasmian pronunciation.
Say the word Each Greek word carries its transliteration (agapētos) — no per-word recordings of the Greek exist to link to.
Take it away
Ephesians 5:1quick helps
In a sentencePaul instructs believers to imitate God, reflecting their identity as His beloved children.
Who is speakingThe Apostle Paul, addressing the church in Ephesus.
Where we areIn the midst of practical instructions on Christian living, specifically about love and holiness.
The hard wordμιμηταὶ
Take awayBelievers are called to reflect God's character in their lives.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectμιμητής verbγίνομαι The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the New Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the New Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — , the commonest word in the Greek New Testament, stands 19,867 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — Ephesians 5:1

Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.

Context — Instructions for Christian Livinggenerated

1Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,
2and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
3But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk, or crude joking, which are out of character, but rather thanksgiving.

Ephesians 5:1 presents a call to action for believers, urging them to imitate God as beloved children. This instruction is part of a larger discourse on living a life characterized by love and righteousness, as seen in the following verses. Paul emphasizes that this imitation should reflect the love that Christ demonstrated through His sacrifice, setting a standard for how believers should interact with one another and the world around them.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Ephesians 4:32Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.
2Leviticus 11:45For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
3Matthew 5:45–48that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
4Luke 6:35–36But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
51 Peter 1:15–16But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 11 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word μιμηταὶ, mimētēsgenerated

The word μιμηταὶ (mimētēs) is a noun meaning 'imitators' or 'followers'. It is derived from the verb μιμέομαι, which conveys the idea of emulating or following someone's example. In this context, it emphasizes the importance of reflecting God's character in daily life.

In the New Testament, μιμηταὶ is used to encourage believers to model their behavior after that of Christ and God, as seen in passages like 1 Corinthians 4:16 and Ephesians 5:1. This term carries a positive connotation, suggesting that imitation is a desirable and commendable action.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

The verse is rendered in the Berean Standard Bible as 'Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,' which aligns closely with the American Standard Version and Young's Literal Translation, both using 'imitators' and 'as beloved children.'

However, the King James Version uses 'followers' instead of 'imitators', while the Basic English Bible opts for 'be like God'. This variation highlights different approaches to conveying the same idea of emulating God's character.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The main verb in this verse is Γίνεσθε, do be, which serves as a command for the audience. The structure is straightforward, with a main clause followed by a comparative phrase that describes how believers should imitate God.

The phrase 'as beloved children' functions as a comparative clause, providing context for the manner in which believers are to imitate God. The simplicity of the structure emphasizes the direct call to action.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

In Ephesians 5:1, the word οὖν (oun), translated as 'therefore,' is used to connect the preceding thoughts to the call for imitation of God. In the Septuagint, this word often corresponds to the Hebrew עַתָּ֫ה (attah), which indicates a moment in time, suggesting a logical conclusion based on prior statements.

The phrase θεοῦ (theos), meaning 'of God,' reflects the Hebrew אֱלֹהִים (elohim), emphasizing the divine nature of the one being imitated. Additionally, ἀγαπητὰ (agapētos), translated as 'beloved,' relates to the Hebrew יָחִיד (yachid), which conveys the idea of being unique or cherished, reinforcing the special relationship between God and His children.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Ephesians 5:1 instructs believers to imitate God, just as beloved children do. This means they should reflect God's love and character in their actions and interactions with others.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What does it mean to be an imitator of God?

To be an imitator of God means to reflect His character and actions in our own lives, particularly in love and righteousness, as demonstrated by Jesus.

Why does Paul refer to believers as 'beloved children'?

Paul refers to believers as 'beloved children' to emphasize their special relationship with God, highlighting that they are cherished and loved by Him.

How can I imitate God in my daily life?

Imitating God can involve showing love, kindness, and forgiveness to others, just as He has shown to us, and living in a way that reflects His values and teachings.

What is the significance of the word 'therefore' in this verse?

The word 'therefore' indicates that Paul's instruction to imitate God is a response to the previous teachings about love and unity within the Christian community.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. In what ways can I reflect God's love in my interactions with others?
  2. How does understanding my identity as a beloved child of God influence my behavior?
  3. What are some specific examples of imitating God in my daily life?
  4. How can I encourage others to also be imitators of God?

The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it

Early church writers referenced this verse to emphasize the importance of living a life that reflects God's character. Their insights provide valuable context for understanding Paul's exhortation.

Ignatius of AntiochEpistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians c. 35–108
I have become acquainted with your name, much-beloved in God, which ye have acquired by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and love in Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 5 →
Clement of AlexandriaThe Stromata Book 3 c. 150–215
"But you have not so learned Christ, if you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Christ Jesus; put off with the ways of your former life your old man which is corrupted by the deceitful lusts.
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 5 →
Pope Anterus d. 236
And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Holy Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord;
Early Church Fathers on Ephesians 5 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Ephesians 5:1 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Be ye therefore followers of God,.... Not in his works of infinite wisdom and almighty power, which is impossible; but in acts of righteousness and holiness, and particularly in acts of mercy,

Read John Gill on Ephesians 5 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; Be ye , [ ginesthe (G1096)] - 'become.' Therefore - since 'God in Christ forgave you' (Ephesians 4:32).

Read Robert Jamieson on Ephesians 5 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

CHAPTER 5 ,2 Paul exhorteth to the imitation of God, and of the love of Christ, ,4 to avoid fornication and all uncleanness, ,6 which exclude from, the kingdom of God, and draw down God’ s wrath on unbelievers, with whose works of darkness Christians, that have better light to inform and influence them, should have no fellowship, to walk with prudence and circumspection, not to drink wine to excess, but to be filled with the Spirit, singing psalms, and giving thanks to God, and being in due subordination to one another. The duty of wives toward their husbands, and of husbands toward their wives, enforced by the example of Christ and his church. Be ye therefore followers of God; particularly…

Read Matthew Poole on Ephesians 5 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; Ver. 1. Be ye therefore followers] In forgiving one another. As dear children] God hath but a few such children.

Read John Trapp on Ephesians 5 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

V. (1, 2) These verses are an expansion and enforcement of the last verse of Ephesians 4. There the forgiveness of “God in Christ” is set forth in one pregnant phrase. Here the two parts of this idea are divided; and there is put before us, first, the free universal love of God as our Father, and next, the self-sacrificing love of Christ, as the Son of God and man.

Read Charles John Ellicott on Ephesians 5 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

CHAPTER V. Christians should imitate their heavenly Father, and walk in love, after the example of Christ, 1, 2. They should avoid all uncleanness, impurity, covetousness, and foolish jesting, and idolatry, because these things exclude from the kingdom of God, 3-7. The Ephesians were once in darkness, but being now light in the Lord, they are exhorted to walk in that light, and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit; and to have no fellowship with the workers of iniquity, whose evil deeds are manifested by the light, 8-13. All are exhorted to awake; to walk circumspectly; to redeem the time; and to learn what the will of the Lord is, 14-17. The apostle gives particular directions relative to…

Read AdamClarke on Ephesians 5 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ch. Ephesians 5:1-14. The subject pursued: Christ’s Sacrifice the supreme example of self-sacrifice: Purity: Reproof of darkness by light1. therefore] The argument passes unbroken from the previous words.followers] Lit. “imitators.” The A. V. consistently uses “follow,” “follower,” to render the original verb and noun; 1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; 2 Thessalonians 3:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:9; Hebrews 6:12; Hebrews 13:7; 1 Peter 3:13; 3 John 1:11. For the thought here cp. Matthew 5:45; Matthew 5:48; Luke 6:36; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Peter 3:13. (In this last passage the true reading gives probably “emulators,” not “imitators”; but…

Read Cambridge on Ephesians 5 →
Albert Barnes1798–1870Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Be ye therefore followers of God - Greek, “Be imitators - μιμηταὶ mimētai - of God.” The idea is not that they were to be the friends of God, or numbered among his followers, but that they were to

Read Albert Barnes on Ephesians 5 →

The verse in English, compared — 16 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

NETBNew English Translation2006

Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children;

RVARevised Version, American1894

Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children;

NWBWebster's Bible1833

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

GNVGeneva Bible1599

Bee yee therefore followers of God, as deare children,

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children,

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

Become, then, followers of God, as children beloved,

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

Become, then, followers of God, as beloved children,

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly loved children.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

Be ye therefore followers of God, as most dear children;

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

So then, imitate God since you're his much-loved children.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

Let it then be your desire to be like God, as well-loved children;

Word by word, the decisions they made

Γίνεσθεginomai do be G1096 2 different renderings
becomeLSV YLT
imitateFBV
θεοῦtheos of God G2316 2 different renderings
of godASV BSB DBY DRA GNV KJV LSV MSB NETB NWB RVA ULB WEB YLT
godBBE FBV
ἀγαπητὰagapētos beloved G27 2 different renderings
belovedASV BSB DBY LSV MSB RVA WEB YLT
dearly lovedNETB ULB

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the Nestle 1904 treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

clauseοὖνthereforeclauseclauselinking verbγίνεσθεBenoun phrase · predicateμιμηταὶimitatorsnoun phraseτοῦ-Θεοῦof Godclauseὡςasclausenoun phrase · subjectτέκναchildrenἀγαπητάbelovedκαὶandclauseverbπεριπατεῖτεwalkprepositional phrase · adverbialἐνinἀγάπῃloveclauseκαθὼςjust asclauseclausenoun phrase · subjectκαὶalsonoun phrase-ΧριστὸςChristverbἠγάπησενlovedobjectὑμᾶςusκαὶandclauseverbπαρέδωκενgave upobjectἑαυτὸνhimselfprepositional phrase · adverbialὑπὲρforἡμῶνusnoun phrase · second objectnoun phrasenoun phraseπροσφορὰν[as] an offeringκαὶandθυσίανa sacrificeadverb phrasenoun phraseτῷ-Θεῷto Godprepositional phraseεἰςintonoun phraseὀσμὴνan aromaεὐωδίαςof a sweet smell

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The earliest translations — Latin and Syriac

Every translation is an argument about meaning made by someone who had to commit to one. These two were made while the Greek was still a living language, and they are the oldest opinions we have about what this verse says.

Latin VulgateAD 382–405

Estote ergo imitatores Dei, sicut filii carissimi,

Jerome revised the Old Latin against the Greek from AD 382; the Latin west read this text for a thousand years.

Syriac Peshittaby AD 400

ܗܘܝܬܘܢ ܗܟܝܠ ܡܬܕܡܝܢ ܒܐܠܗܐ ܐܝܟ ܒܢܝܐ ܚܒܝܒܐ

The Bible of the Syriac-speaking church, in the language nearest to the Aramaic Jesus spoke.

Shown verse by verse rather than word by word: aligning a Greek word to its Latin or Syriac counterpart automatically would be guesswork, and a wrong alignment is worse than none.


The Greek editions compared — what the manuscripts actually say

Eight printed editions of the Greek New Testament, side by side. Where they agree the wording is settled; where a word is missing from an edition it is marked, so you can see the difference rather than take it on trust.

Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

The standard critical text of the New Testament.

Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993 · Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

The previous edition, still widely cited.

SBL Greek New Testament2010 · Michael Holmes

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

The Society of Biblical Literature edition, freely licensed.

Westcott–Hort1881 · Westcott and Hort

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

The edition that turned scholarship toward the earliest manuscripts.

Tregelles1857–1879 · Samuel Prideaux Tregelles

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

An independent critical text built from the oldest witnesses then known.

Tyndale House Greek NT2017 · Tyndale House, Cambridge

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

A recent critical edition following documentary evidence closely.

Byzantine majority text2018 · Robinson–Pierpont

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

The reading of the majority of surviving manuscripts.

Textus Receptus1550/1894 lineage

Γίνεσθε οὖν μιμηταὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητὰ

The printed tradition behind the King James Version.

Every witness on this verse all agree
Critical editions
Nestle-Aland 28th edition2012Nestle-Aland 27th edition1993SBL Greek New Testament2010Westcott–Hort1881Tregelles1857–1879Tyndale House Greek NT2017
Byzantine / Majority
Byzantine majority text2018
Received Text
Textus Receptus1550/1894

A witness that read differently would show its variant word here, marked.

Word by word, across the editions

Every edition agrees. All 8 printed editions — Nestle-Aland 28, Nestle-Aland 27, SBLGNT, Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Tyndale House 2017, Textus Receptus (KJV), Byzantine majority — carry every word of this verse, in the same order, with no difference that any translator would render differently.


The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Greek New Testament — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

Ephesians 5:1γίνομαιdo bedo beγίνομαιοὖνthereforethereforeοὖνμιμητήςimitatorsimitatorsμιμητής<the><the>θεόςof Godof Godθεόςὡςasasὡςτέκνονchildrenchildrenτέκνονἀγαπητόςbelovedbelovedἀγαπητόςμιμέομαιv. I imitav. I imitateμιμέομαιὅςRel.pr. whRel.pr. who, whὅςἀγαπάωv. I lovev. I loveἀγαπάωArticle thArticle theτιμωρίαn.f. punisn.f. punishmentτιμωρίαὄψιοςAdj lateAdj lateὄψιοςγωνίαn.f. a corn.f. a corner, γωνίαἄραDisj.prt. Disj.prt. then,ἄραμένDisj.prt. Disj.prt. trulyμένγίνομαιv. I come v. I come into γίνομαιοὖνCj. therefCj. therefore, οὖνεὐχαριστέωv. I thankv. I thank, givεὐχαριστέωβασιλείαn.f. kingsn.f. kingship, βασιλείανήπιοςAdj an infAdj an infant, νήπιοςπλησίονAdv near, Adv near, nearbπλησίονἐπανίστημιv. I rise v. I rise up agἐπανίστημιγονεύςn.m. a parn.m. a parentγονεύςεὐδοκέωv. I am rev. I am resolveεὐδοκέω
meets it a little oftener than chancemeets it far oftener than chancebuilt from the same roottwo words of the verse share ita word of this versea related word

Lexicons — every word in Ephesians 5:1

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Greek lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. Imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, the full Liddell-Scott-Jones, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate LSJ, Robinson and Packard on the Greek, Webster and Cawdrey on the English the translators were using. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
Γίνεσθεginomai do be G1096 Verb · present · no voice stated · imperative · second person · plural
668× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
A versatile word meaning to be, become, or come into being, used in John 1:15 and 1 Corinthians 15:37.
Amplified meaning
follow, imitate
Tyndale gloss
to be
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

γίνομαι (ginomai) is a versatile Greek verb meaning to come into being, be born, or arise. It covers a wide range of uses, from the creation of things to events occurring. In the New Testament, it appears in contexts such as birth (e.g., Romans 1:3), occurrences in nature (e.g., John 12:29), and actions being performed (e.g., Matthew 21:42). It can also express the idea of becoming or changing states.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

γίνομαι, Ion. and κοινή for Att. γίγν- (M. Pr., 47; Bl., §6, 8 Mayser, 166 f.),

[in LXX chiefly for היה ;]

of persons, things occurrences, to come into being, be born, arise, come on: Jo 1:15 8:58, I Co 15:37; a first appearance in public, Mk 1:4, Jo 1:6, al.; seq. ἐκ (of birth), Ro 1:3, Ga 4:4; διά, Jo 1:3; βροντή, Jo 12:29; σεισμός, Re 6:12; γογγυσμός, Ac 6:1; χαρά, Ac 8:8, many other similar exx.; ἡμέρα, Lk 22:66, al.; ὀψέ, Read the full entry →

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

γίνομαι (in Ionic prose writ.and in com. Grk. fr. Aristot. on for Attic γίγνομαι) ; [impf. ἐγινόμην ; fut. γενήσομαι ; 2 aor. ἐγενόμην (often in 3 pers. sing. optat. γένοιτο ; [ptep. yevapevos, Lk. xxiv. 22 Tdf. ed. 7]), and, with no diff. in signif., 1 aor. pass. ἐγενήθην, rejected by the Atticists (cf. Lob. ad Phryn. p. 108 sq.; [Thom. Mag. ed. Ritschl p. 75, 6 sq.]), not rare in later Grk., common in Sept. (Acts iv. 4; 1 Th. ii. 14; 1 Co. xv. 10, etc.), impv. γενηθήτω (Mt. vi. 10; xv. 28, ete.) ; pf. γεγένημαι and γέγονα, 3 pers. plur. γέγοναν L T Tr WH in Ro. xvi. 7 and Rey. xxi. 6 (cf. [Tdf. Proleg. p. 124; WH. App. p. 166; Soph. Lex. p. 37 sq.; Curtius, Das Verbum, ii. 187]; W. 36 and 76 (73) sq-; Mullach p. 16; B. 43 (37 sq.)), [ptep. γεγονώς] ; plpf. 3 pers. sing. ἐγεγόνει (Jn. vi. 17 [not Tdf.];. Acts iv. 22 [where L T Tr WH γεγόνει, cf. W. § 12, 9; B. 33 (29); Tdf.’s note on…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

γίνομαι {Ξ ΠῚ. p. 210) γενοῦ πρὸς "Ata τὸν ποιμένα καὶ δέξαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δραχμὰς διακοσίας, P Flor II. 180 (a.p. 253) ἐὰν γένηται πρός σε Διόσκορος, α΄. Γίνομαι sometimes supplies an aorist fir εἰμί : ἐγενόμην is normally ingressive (= became), but has to serve on occasion for summary (‘‘constative ’’) aorist as well—cf. Prolfeg. p. 109. Thus P. Flor III. 382% (cited ad 72.) might be translated ‘the son whom I neither have nor ever had,’’ as well as ‘‘ nor was ever born to me.” Lk 13? is an instance of this summary use. It appears in a very common technical usage, by which γενόμενος, with the tithe of an official, etc., denotes “ex-’’: where the title forms a verb, the aor, the perf.) partic. of this is used instead. arch” is γυμνασιαρχήσας. For the periphrasis cf. P Oxy I. 3811 (a.p. 49-50) (= Selections, p. 53) καθὰ π|ζα]ρῆλθον ἐπὶ τοῦ γενομένου τοῦ νομοῦ στρατηγοῦ Ilaciwyvos, “1…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

γίνομαι (ginomai) — to be.

γίγνομαι,

Ionic dialect and after [Refs 4th c.BC+] γίνομαι [ῑ], (Attic dialect Inscrr. have γιγν- in fifth and fourth cententury,[Refs]; Thess. γίνυμαι [Refs]; Boeotian dialect γίνιουμαι [Refs]future γενήσομαι: aorist ἐγενόμην (ἐγενάμην [LXX] (προ-) Decrees Byzantine cited in [Refs 4th c.BC+], Ionic dialect 2nd pers. singular γένευ [Refs 8th c.BC+], 3rd.pers. singular γενέσκετο [Refs 8th c.BC+]; Epic dialect γέντο [Refs 8th c.BC+] (gṇ-το): perfect γέγονα [Refs 8th c.BC+]: 3rd.pers. plural γέγοναν [NT]: pluperfect ἐγεγόνει [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ionic dialect ἐγεγόνεε [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Epic dialect forms (as if from perfect γέγᾰα), 2nd pers. plural γεγάᾱτε [Refs 8th c.BC+]pluperfect ἐκ-γεγάτην [ᾰ] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; infinitive γεγάμεν [ᾰ] [Refs 8th c.BC+]; participle γεγᾰώς -ᾰυῖα, plural -ᾰῶτες, -ᾰυῖαι [Refs 8th c.BC+], contraction γεγώς, -ῶσα [Refs…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

γίνομαι

ginomai

a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be

("gen"-erate), i.e. (reflexively) to become (come into being), used

with great latitude (literal, figurative, intensive, etc.):--arise, be

assembled, be(-come, -fall, -have self), be brought (to pass), (be)

come (to pass), continue, be divided, draw, be ended, fall, be

finished, follow, be found, be fulfilled, + God forbid, grow, happen,

have, be kept, be made, be married, be ordained to be, partake, pass,

be performed, be published, require, seem, be showed, X soon as it

was, sound, be taken, be turned, use, wax, will, would, be wrought.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

γίνομαι

v.

I come into being, am born

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

γίνομαι ginomai 669x

pluperfect, ἐγενόει (3rd sg), to come into existence; to be created, exist by creation, Jn. 1:3, 10; Heb. 11:3; Jas. 3:9; to be born, produced, grow, Mt. 21:19; Jn. 8:58, et al.; to arise, come on, occur, as the phenomena of nature, etc.; Mt. 8:24, 26; 9:16, et al.; to come, approach, as morning or evening, Mt. 8:16; 14:15, 23; to be appointed, constituted, established, Mk. 2:27; Gal.…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Verb-PNM-2P — Verb · present · no voice stated · imperative · second person · plural
present no voice stated imperative — an action in progress.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

V-PNM-2P Part of Speech: Verb Tense: Present Voice: middle or passive depoNent Mood: iMperative Person: second Number: Plural

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
9%it came to pass
it came to pass9% · 64×became4% · 28×there was3% · 23×do be3% · 22×came3% · 19×having become3% · 18×was3% · 18×having been3% · 17×other renderings69% · 468×

677 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 180 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
verb57%linking verb42%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 668 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
θάλασσαthe sea, lakeἐκεῖthere, yonder, tεἰμίI am, exist
Article the
δύναμιςmight, power, maεἰμίI am, existαὐτός
δέbut, on the other ha
ὄψιοςlateοὗτοςὡςas, like as, how
μήNeg
ἵναin order that, sοὐNegθεόςGod, a god
αὐτός
ἱμάτιονouter garmentδιάκλάδοςa branch
γίνομαιdo be668×
what comes after →
Article the
δύναμιςmight, power, maθέλημαwill, wish, desiἔσχατοςlast, at the las
ἐν
Article theσύεἷςone
δέbut, on the other ha
ἐνArticle theἡμέραa day
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theοὐNegἐκφύωI put forth, cau
εἰς
Article theκεφαλήthe headδένδρονa tree

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceγίνομαι · 668× in the New Testament
Luke Acts Matthew Mark John 1 Corinthians Revelation Romans Hebrews 1 Thessalonians Galatians 2 Corinthians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 11c. AD 40

πρὸς δὲ τὸ μὴ γεγονὸς οἰκείωσις οὐδεμία τῷ μὴ πεποιηκότι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς ὁ κατακλυσμὸς ἐγένετο καὶ ὃν τρόπον Νῶχος σωθεὶς ἐν λάρνακι μετὰ τῶν συγγενῶν κατῴκησεν ἐν τῷ Σινάρῳ πεδίῳ.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 4.11c. AD 100

γενώμεθα πνευματικοί, γενώμεθα ναὸς τέλειος τῷ θεῷ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 6th c. AD 4th c. AD 3rd c. BC
P.Grenf. 1 22Thebais119 BC

ἔχω εἰς τὸν Ἑρμίου λόγον περὶ πῆς τοπογραμματείας τοῦ νγ ἔτους χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δέκα. γίνεται τάλαντα ι. καὶ περὶ τῆς κωμογραμματείας ὁμοίως χαλκοῦ τάλαντα δέκα. γίνεται τάλαντα ι. καὶ

P.Grenf. 1 37Thebais109 BC

ἀποστερέσαι … ησας ἀλλά … τας κατὰ κοινόν … ἐπίσκεψιν ποιησάσθαι. … τούτων γὰρ γενομένων ἐσόμεθα βεβοηθημένοι ὑφʼ ὑμῶν. ἔρρωσθε. ἔτους θ Φαρμοῦθι κζ, ἐπιλέγματος ἀναγνωσθέντος τοῦ ὑπομνήματος ἐκρίθη

P.Adl. 10Pathyris102 BC

λ εὐμεγέθης μελίχρως τετανὸς μακροπρόσωπος εὐθύριν οὐλὴ φαλάνθῳ ἀριστερῶι χαλκοῦ νομίσματος τάλαντα δέκα δύο, γίνεται τάλαντα ιβ, ἄτοκα, ἡμερῶν τριάκοντα ἀπὸ μηνὸς Παῦνι ιθ. τὸ δὲ δάνειον τοῦτο ἀποδότω

do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
οὖνoun therefore G3767 Conjunction
496× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means therefore or then, showing a consequence. It appears in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9 to connect ideas and events.
Amplified meaning
then, as a consequence
Tyndale gloss
therefore/then
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word οὖν (oun) is a particle used to express consequence, sequence, or to resume a narrative. It translates to 'therefore,' 'then,' or 'accordingly,' and appears frequently in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 3:10 and Romans 5:9. It can also serve in exhortations and questions, indicating what follows logically from previous statements.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

οὖν,

particle expressing consequence or simple sequence (never standing first in a sentence),

wherefore, therefore, then: Mt 3:10, Lk 3:9, Jo 8:38, Ac 1:21, Ro 5:9, al.; in exhortations, Mt 3:8, Lk 11:35, Ac 3:19, Ro 6:12, al.; in questions, Mt 13:28, Mk 15:12, Jo 8:[5], Ro 6:1, al.; continuing a…

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

οὖν ἃ conj. indicating that something follows from another necessarily; [al. regard the primary force of the particle as confirmatory or continuative, rather than illative; cf. Passow, or L.andS.s. v.; Kiihner § 508, 1 ii. p- 707 sqq.; Biiumlein p. 173 sqq.; Kriiger § 69, 52; Donaldson p. 571; Rost in a program “ Ueber Ableitung ” u.s.w. p.2; Klotz p. 717; Hartung ii. 4]. Hence it is used in drawing a conclusion and in connecting sentences together logically, then, therefore, accordingly, consequently, these things being so, [ (Klotz, Rost, al., have wished to derive the word fr. the neut. ptep. ὄν (cf. ὄντως) ; but see Baumlein or Kiihner u.s.); ef. W. § 53, 8]: Mt. iii. 10; x. 32 (since persecutions are not to be dreaded, and consequently furnish no excuse for denying me [οἵ. W. 455 (424)]); Mt. xviii. 4; Lk. iii.9; xvi. 27; In. viii. 38 (καὶ ὑμεῖς οὖν, and ye accordingly, i. e.…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

οὖν. This common particle, which occurs in the NT nearly 500 times, is used in our sources in a variety of connexions, the exact shade of meaning being determined by the context. (1) For the causal meaning ‘‘therefore” we may cite BGU II. 423" (ii/aA.p.) (= Sevectzons, p. 91) Kal καλῶς pol ἐστιν. ἐρωτῶ ce οὖν, κύριέ pou πατήρ, γράψον μοι ἐπιστόλιον πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τῆς σωτηρίας σου... , “it is well with me. I beg you, therefore, my lord father, write me a letter, first regarding your health ... ,” and P Oxy XIV. 16651 (iii/A.D.), where a son in urgent need of oil writes to his father—dvayxalws οὖν, ἐὰν ἔτι παρὰ σεαυτῷ χρ[ἴ]ον ἔχῃς, δήλωσον ἢ τῷ vie σου ἢ ᾧ ἐὰν σὺ βούλῃ τούτους μοι ἐν τάχει παρα[σ]χεῖν, ‘perforce, therefore, if you have still with you any unguent, instruct your son or any one else you wish to supply me with them speedily ” (Edd.). (2) Οὖν is very common in a looser…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

οὖν (oun) — therefore/then.

οὖν,

Ionic dialect and Doric dialect ὦν (the latter in [Refs 8th c.BC+], adverb certainly, in fact, confirming something, frequently in contrast with something which is not confirmed, in [Refs 8th c.BC+] only in combination with γε (see. γοῦν), γάρ, οὔτε or μήτε, ὡς, ἐπεί, μέν, etc.:

1. really, φημὶ γὰρ οὖν κατανεῦσαι.. Κρονίωνα for I declare that Zeus did really promise.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; τόφρα γὰρ οὖν ἑπόμεσθα.., ὄφρ᾽ for we followed them up to the very point, where.., [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Θηβαῖοι μὲν ταῦτα λέγουσι.., Πλαταιῆς δ᾽ οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι.., ἐκ δ᾽ οὖν τῆς γῆς ἀνεχώρησαν at all events they did return, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; so δ᾽ οὖν after a parenthesis; εἰ δή τις ὑμῶν οὕτως ἔχει,—οὐκ ἀξιῶ μὲν γὰρ ἔγωγε,—εἰ…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

οὖν

oun

apparently a primary word; (adverbially) certainly, or

(conjunctionally) accordingly:--and (so, truly), but, now (then), so

(likewise then), then, therefore, verily, wherefore.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

οὖν

Cj.

therefore, then

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

οὖν oun 499x

then, now then, Mt. 13:18; Jn. 19:29; then, thereupon, Lk. 15:28; Jn. 6:14; therefore, consequently, Mt. 5:48: Mk. 10:9; it also serves to mark the resumption of discourse after an interruption by a parenthesis, 1 Cor. 8:4. Sometimes it is not translated.

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

οὖν really, at all events, used like γοῦν to dismiss a perplexing subject, οὔτ᾽ οὖν ἀγγελίῃς ἔτι πείθομαι, οὔτε θεοπροπίης ἐμπάζομαι Od.; ἐλέχθησαν λόγοι ἄπιστοι μὲν ἐνίοισι Ἑλλήνων, ἐλέχθησαν δ᾽ ὦν but they really were spoken, Hdt.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν, εἴτε μὴ γενήσεται whether it shall be really so, or no, Eur.; εἴτ᾽ οὖν ἀληθὲς εἴτ᾽ οὖν ψεῦδος Plat.; εἰ δ᾽ ἔστιν, ὥσπερ οὖν ἔστι, θεός if he is, as he surely is, a god, id. Plat.

added to indef. Pronouns and Advs., like Lat. cunque, ὅστις whoever, ὁστισοῦν whosoever; ὅπως how, ὁπωσοῦν howsoever; ἄλλος ὁστισοὖν another, be he who he may; so, ὁποιοσοῦν, ὁποσοσοῦν, ὁπωσοῦν, ὁποθενοῦν…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Conj — Conjunction
conjunction — it joins clauses, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

CONJ CONJunction or conjunctive particle

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
79%therefore
therefore79% · 428×then19% · 104×other renderings1% · 7×

539 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 5 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 496 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
λέγωI say, speak
διακονέωI wait at table,ἔχωI have, hold, poΣατανᾶςan adversary, Sa
μένDisj
Article theεἰCondπολύςmuch, many, ofte
τίςIrg
αὐτόςλέγωI say, speakδιά
Article the
ἸακώβPropὕδωρwater
σύ
καίand, even, also,δεῖit is necessary,ἐρωτάωI ask, question,
οὖνtherefore496×
what comes after →
Article the
ἸησοῦςJesusἸουδαῖοςJewishμαθητήςa learner, disci
αὐτός
Article theτίςIrgἸησοῦςJesus
καίand, even, also, nam
νίπτωI washἕτεροςanother, differeὁράωI see, look upon
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theσύοὗτος
σύ
πονηρόςevil, bad, wickeτέλειοςperfect, full-grἨλίαςElijah

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceοὖν · 496× in the New Testament
John Acts Matthew Romans Luke 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 Peter Galatians Philippians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament23 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 110 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 4c. AD 40

τὸ μὲν οὖν κάλλος τῶν νοημάτων τῆς κοσμοποιίας οὐδεὶς οὔτε ποιητὴς οὔτε λογογράφος ἀξίως ἂν ὑμνῆσαι δύναιτο·

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.6c. AD 75–95

ἤδη μὲν οὖν καὶ πρότερον διενοήθην, ὅτε τὸν πόλεμον συνέγραφον, δηλῶσαι τίνες ὄντες ἐξ ἀρχῆς Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τίσι χρησάμενοι τύχαις ὑφʼ οἵῳ τε παιδευθέντες νομοθέτῃ τὰ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἄσκησιν ἀρετῆς πόσους τε πολέμους ἐν μακροῖς…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.4c. AD 100

πεπεισμένος οὖν τοῦτο καὶ συνειδὼς ἐμαυτῷ, ὅτι ἐν ὑμῖν λαλήσας πολλὰ ἐπίσταμαι, ὅτι ἐμοὶ συνώδευσεν ἐν ὁδῷ δικαιοσύνης κύριος, καὶ πάντως ἀναγκάζομαι κἀγὼ εἰς τοῦτο, ἀγαπᾶν ὑμᾶς ὑπὲρ τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὅτι μεγάλη πίστις καὶ ἀγάπη ἐγκατοικεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν ἐπ’…

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
3rd c. BC 2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 2nd c. BC
P.Grenf. 2 23Latopolites109 BC

χαίρειν. τοῦ παρʼ Ἑρμώνακτος τῶν ὁμοτίμων τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ὑποδιοικητοῦ χρηματισμοῦ ἀντίγραφον ὑπόκειται. κατακολουθήσας οὖν τοῖς διʼ αὐτοῦ σημαινομένοις χρημάτισον ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Παθύρει τραπέζης, συνυπογράφοντος Φίβιος τοῦ…

P.Grenf. 1 30Pathyris104 BC

δὲ καὶ αὐτοί. μεταλαβόντες τοὺς συντετελεσμένους πρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς Ἑρμωνθίτας ἀγῶνας μεγάλως ἐχάρημεν. ἐπεὶ οὖν προκεχειρίκαμεν προστάτην τοῦ μεγίστου θεοῦ Νεχθφαραῦτος βεα … ρων … δια … στρατιωτῶν

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

ἐπιβεβληκέναι εἰς Μέμφιν, Ἱέρακα δὲ προκεχειρίσθαι μετὰ δυνάμεων μυρίων ἐπὶ καταστολὴν τῆς Θηβαίδος. ὅπως οὖν εἰδότες εὐθαρσεῖς ὑπάρχητε ἐκρίναμεν σημῆναι. ἔρρωσθε ἔτους λ Φαῶφι ιθ

do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
μιμηταὶmimētēs imitators G3402 Noun · nominative · plural · masculine
6× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
An imitator is someone who follows another's example, as seen in 1 Corinthians 4:16 and Ephesians 5:1, where Paul encourages believers to imitate him and God.
Tyndale gloss
imitator
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word μιμητής (i.e., mimētēs) means 'imitator' or 'follower.' It is derived from the verb μιμέομαι and is used in the New Testament to refer to someone who imitates others positively, as seen in passages like 1 Corinthians and Ephesians. The term can also imply a broader sense of representation, such as an actor or copyist, but in the New Testament context, it consistently carries a good connotation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

* μιμητής, -οῦ, ὁ

(< μιμέομαι),

in NT always (like the verb) in good sense, an imitator: I Co 4:16 11:1, Eph 5:1, I Th 1:6 2:14, He 6:12.†

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

μιμητής, -οὔ, 6, an imitator: γίνομαί τινος (gen. of pers.), 1Co. iv. 16; xi.1; Eph.v.1; 1 Th.i. 6; ii. 14; Heb. vi. 12; w. gen. of the thing, 1 Pet. iii. 13 Rec. (where L T Tr WH @orai). [Plat., Isoer., al.]

Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

| μιμητής. —other persons of the same name figure in this ledger, twice | without description, then’ Adp. τέκτονι, ποιμένι "Adp., and | twice before a lacuna. In P Oxy XIV. 16663 (iii/a.p.) a certain Pausanias writes περὶ τοῦ μεικροῦ Ilavcaviov— evidently his son—stating that he desired to be transferred to a cavalry regiment. A similar application of the adj. to children is very common. We may cite, by way of example, P Lond 8937 (a.p. 40) (= P Ryl II. p. 381) καλῶς π[οιή]σεις ἐξαυτῆ(9) πέμψας μοι Tov μεικρόν, ““ please therefore send me the child immediately ” (Edd.), P Fay 113}} (a.p, 100) εἰκθύας (/. ἰχθύας) (δραχμῶν) iB ἐπὶ τὰ τετρακοσστὰ (2. -κοστὰ) τοῦ μικροῦ, ““12 drachmas’ worth of fish for the little one’s four-hundredth-day festival " (Edd.), P Lond 8998 (ii/a.D.) (= III. p. 208) ἔπεμψα τῇ μικρᾷ oa iB, som sent twelve eggs to the little one,” P Giss I. 787 (ii/a.p.) ἡ The NT…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

μιμητής (mimētēs) — imitator.

μῑμ-ητής, οῦ, ὁ,

imitator, τινων[NT+5th c.BC+]; οἱ μ. τῶν γραμμάτων forgers, [Refs 4th c.AD+]

II. artist [Refs 5th c.BC+]; especially one who impersonates characters, as an actor or poet, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

II.2. coupled with γόης, mere actor, impostor, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

μιμητής

mimetes

from 3401; an imitator:--follower.

see GREEK for 3401

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

μιμητής, οῦ, ὁ

n.m.

an imitator

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

μιμητής mimētēs 6x

an imitator, follower, 1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Eph. 5:1; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:14; Heb. 6:12*

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

μιμητής μι_μητής, οῦ, ὁ, μιμέομαι an imitator, copyist, Plat., etc.

one who represents characters, Arist.

a mere actor, an impostor (cf. ὑποκριτής), Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-NPM — Noun · nominative · plural · masculine
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-NPM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Masculine

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%imitators
imitators100% · 6×

6 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 1 different way. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
predicate100%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 6 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
σύ
οὖνtherefore, thenκαίand, even, also,
οὖνtherefore, then
γίνομαιI come into bein
γάρfor
σύ
γίνομαιI come into being, a
νωθρόςdull, sluggish
μιμητήςimitators
what comes after →
ἐγώ
γίνομαιI come into bein
Article the
θεόςGod, a god
γίνομαιI come into being, a
ἀδελφόςa brother
δέbut, on the other ha
Article the

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceμιμητής · 6× in the New Testament
1 Corinthians 1 Thessalonians Ephesians Hebrews
Across the New Testament4 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Ignatius of Antioch Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Polycarp
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Migration of Abraham 26c. AD 40

πολλοὶ γὰρ ἤδη καὶ ἀντιπάλου κακίας ἐγένοντο μιμηταί, ὡς ἀρετῆς ἔμπαλιν ἕτεροι.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4.151c. AD 75–95

περιίστατο γάρ, μὴ πολλοὶ τῆς τῶν λόγων ἀσελγείας αὐτοῦ μιμηταὶ γενόμενοι ταράξωσι τὸ πλῆθος.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 17.1c. AD 96

Μιμηταὶ γενώμεθα κἀκείνων, οἵτινες ἐν δέρμασιν αἰγείοις καὶ μηλωταῖς περιεπάτησαν κηρύσσοντες τὴν ἔλευσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ: λέγομεν δὲ Ἠλίαν καὶ Ἑλισαιέ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ἰεζεκιήλ, τοὺς προφήτας: πρὸς τούτοις καὶ τοὺς μεμαρτυρημένους.

do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
τοῦho <the> G3588 Article · genitive · singular · masculine
19,783× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
The Greek word for 'the' or 'this', used to point out a specific person or thing, like in Acts 17:28. It can also mean 'he', 'she', or 'it'.
Tyndale gloss
the/this/who
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The definite article — the commonest word in the Greek New Testament at 19,867 occurrences. Greek uses it more freely than English does and can drop it deliberately, so its presence and its absence both carry weight for a translator; but no single occurrence carries a message of its own. Here it simply gathers “the things” into one definite bundle.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὁ, ἡ, τό,

the prepositive article (ἄρθρον προτακτικόν), originally a demonstr. pron. (so usually in Hom.), in general corresponding to the Eng. definite article.

As demonstr. pron.

As freq. in Hom., absol., he (she, it), his (etc.): Ac 17:28 (quoted from the poet Aratus).

Distributive, ὁ μὲν . . . ὁ δέ, the one . . . the other: I Co 7:7, Ga 4:22; pl., Ac 14:4, 17:32, Phl 1:16, al.; οἱ μὲν . . . ἄλλοι δέ, Mt 16:14, Jo 7:12; οἱ μεν̀ . . . ὁ δέ, He 7:21, 23.

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὁ 435 ὁ tives of quantity, ὅλος, πᾶς, πολύς, see each in its own place. d. What has been said concerning adjectives holds true also of all other limitations added to substantives, as ἡ κατ᾽ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις, Ro. ix. 11; ἡ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, Ro. xi. 27; 6 λόγος 6 τοῦ σταυροῦ, 1 Co. i. 18; ἡ εἰς Χριστὸν πίστις, Col. ii. 5; on the other hand, ἡ πίστις ὑμῶν ἡ πρὸς τὸν θεόν, 1 Th. i. 8; τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους, 2 Co. viii. 4; see many other exx. of each usage in W. 131 (124) sqq.; [B. 91 (80) sqq.]. e. The noun has the article before it when a demonstrative pronoun (υὗτος, ἐκεῖνος) belonging to it either precedes or follows [W. § 18, 4; B. § 127, 29-31]; as, ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος, Jn. ix. 24 [οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρ. 1, Tr mrg. WH); Acts vi. 13; xxii. 26; ὁ λαὸς οὗτος, Mt. xv. 8; 6 vids σου οὗτος, Lk. xv. 30; plur. Lk. xxiv. 17, and numberless other exx.; οὗτος 6 ἄνθρωπος, Lk. xiv. 30; οὗτος ὁ…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ὃ, ἡ τό. (1) Apart from connexion with μέν or δέ (see below) the demonstrative use of the art. in the NT is confined to a poetical quotation Ac 1778, but it is not uncommon in the papyri, e.g. P Par 45® (B.C. 153) (= Witkowski®, p. 85) τὰ (for ἃ) πράσεις (Δ πράσσεις), P Oxy VIII. 1160! (iii/iv A.D.) Ta (for ἃ) σεσύλληχα (for συνείληχα) δὲ κέρμα {ταν τηρῶ αὐτὰ εἰς τὴν δίκην, “1 am keeping for the trial the money that I have collected” (Ed.). For the distributive Opéev.. - 6 8€, as in 1 Cor7’, cf. P Lond 535 (B.c. 161) (=I. p. 19, U.P.Z. i. p. 239) kal τὰ μὲν ἡμῶν ἐληφότων εἰς τὴν γινομένην ἡμῖν συντάξειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἔτι διὰ τὴν τῶν ὑποτεταγμένων {(.. ... > παρελκομένων. (2) The use of the art. as a relative, of which there is no trace in the NT, may again be illustrated by the following papyrus citations from ¢c. A.D. 346—P Lond 414® (= II. Ῥ. 292) γεινῴσκιν oe θέλω περὶ τοῦ βρεουίου…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὁ (ho) — the/this/who.

ὁ,

ἡ, τό, is, when thus written,

__A demonstrative Pronoun.

__B in Attic dialect, definite or prepositive Article.

__C in Epic dialect, the so-called postpositive Article, = relative Pronoun, ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.—The nominative masculine and feminine singular and plural, ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ, have no accent in codices and most printed books, except when used as the relative; but ὁ, ἡ, οἱ, αἱ differ only in writing from ὃ, ἣ, οἳ, α; the nominative forms of the article are said by Hdn.Gr.1.474 to be oxytone, and by [Refs 2nd c.AD+] in Aeolic dialect accusative to [Refs 8th c.BC+] genitive and dative dual τοῖιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]— In Doric dialect and all other dialects except Attic dialect and Ionic dialect the feminine forms preserve the old ᾱ instead of changing it to η, hence Doric dialect etc. ἁ, τάν, τᾶ; the genitive plural τάων contracts in many dialects to τᾶ; the genitive…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὁ ἡ τό

ho

he hay, and the neuter

to to

in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be

supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom):--the, this, that, one,

he, she, it, etc.

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὁ, ἡ, τό

Article

the

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὁ ho 19x

the prepositive article, answering, to a considerable extent, to the English definite article; but, for the principle and facts of its usage, consult a grammar; ὁ μὲν ... ὁ δέ, the one ... the other, Phil. 1:16, 17; Heb. 7:5, 6, 20, 21, 23, 24; pl. some ... others, Mt. 13:23; 22:5, 6; ὁ δέ, but he, Mt. 4:4; 12:48; οἱ δέ, but others, Mt. 28:17; used, in a poetic quotation, for a personal pronoun, Acts 17:28

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὁ the, that

ὁ, ἡ, τό, is

demonstr. Pronoun.

the definite Article.

in epic, the relative Pronoun, when it is written with the accent ὅ, ἥ, τό ῀ ὅς, ἥ, ὅ. Besides the common forms, note epic gen. sg. τοῖο for τοῦ; pl. nom. τοί, ταί; gen. fem. τάων [α^], dat. τοῖσι, τῇς and τῇσι; dual gen, and dat. τοῖιν:— in Trag. we find τοὶ μέν . . , τοὶ δέ . . , for οἱ μέν . . , οἱ δέ . . ; dat. pl. also τοῖσι, ταῖσι: the dual has commonly but one gender, τώ for τά, τοῖν for ταῖν.

DEMONSTR. PRONOUN:

joined with a Subst., not as the Art., but like Lat. ille, ὁ Τυδείδης Tydeus's famous son, Il.; Νέστωρ ὁ γέρων Nestor— that aged man, id. Il.; τιμῆς τῆς Πριάμου for honour, namely that of Priam, id. Il.

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Art-GSM — Article · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

T-GSM Part of Speech: definite arTicle Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

THE, an adjective or definitive adjective.

1. This adjective is used as a definitive, that is, before nouns which are specific or understood; or it is used to limit their signification to a specific thing or things, or to describe them; as the laws of the twelve tables. the independent tribunals of justice in our country, are the security or private rights, and the best bulwark against arbitrary power. the sun is the source of light and heat.

This he calls the preaching of the cross.

2. the is also used rhetorically before a noun in the singular number, to denote a species by way of distinction; a single thing representing the whole. the fig tree putteth forth her green figs; the almond tree shall flourish; the grasshopper shall be a burden.

3. In poetry, the sometimes loses the final vowel before another vowel.

Th' adorning thee with so much art,

Is but a barb'rous skill.

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
64%the
the64% · 13160×<the>28% · 5846×those3% · 597×other renderings4% · 788×other renderings1% · 294×

20,685 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 83 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject34%adverbial32%object24%predicate5%indirect object4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 19,783 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
καίand, even, also, nam
αὐτόςεἰμίI am, existἐγώ
ἐν
καίand, even, also,αὐτόςArticle the
εἰς
αὐτόςεἰσέρχομαιI go in, come inἔρχομαιI come, go
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakδέbut, on the otheπρός
εἰμίI am, exist
οὗτοςσύἐγώ
<the>19783×
what comes after →
θεόςGod, a god
Article theκαίand, even, also,ἐγώ
δέbut, on the other ha
λέγωI say, speakἸησοῦςJesusἀποκρίνομαιI answer, reply
ἸησοῦςJesus
λέγωI say, speakκαίand, even, also,Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, master,
ἐγώἸησοῦςJesusArticle the
πατήρfather, Father, ance
ἐγώσύαὐτός

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordance · 19,783× in the New Testament
Matthew Acts Luke John Revelation Mark Romans 1 Corinthians Hebrews 2 Corinthians Ephesians 1 John

40 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Shepherd of Hermas Clement of Rome The Epistle of Barnabas
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 1c. AD 40

Τῶν ἄλλων νομοθετῶν οἱ μὲν ἀκαλλώπιστα καὶ γυμνὰ τὰ νομισθέντα παρ’ αὐτοῖς εἶναι δίκαια διετάξαντο, οἱ δὲ πολὺν ὄγκον τοῖς νοήμασι προσπεριβαλόντες ἐξετύφωσαν τὰ πλήθη μυθικοῖς πλάσμασι τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπικρύψαντες.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

τοῦ κόσμου σύστασις καὶ διάταξις τῶν στοιχείων.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.1c. AD 100

Χαίρετε, υἱοὶ καὶ θυγατέρες, ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς, ἐν εἰρήνῃ.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 1st c. AD 3rd c. BC 6th c. AD
P.Stras. 2 89Pathyris100 BC

r βασιλεύοντος Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν Φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιε, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

P.Adl. 11Pathyris99 BC

ιζ Θῶυθ κη ἀπέδοτο Πετεσοῦχος Φίβιος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τὸ ὕπαρχον αὐτοῖς ἥμισυ περιστερῶνος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν τῶι ἀπὸ βορρᾶ μέρει Παθύρεως χαλκοῦ Γ. ἐπρίατο Ὧρος Νεχούτου.

P.Grenf. 2 35Pathyris99 BC

βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ ἐπικαλουμένου Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεῶν φιλομητόρων ἔτους ιϛ, ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν

do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
θεοῦtheos of God G2316 Noun · genitive · singular · masculine
1,311× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
about as common in Ephesians as anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word simply means God, referring to the one true deity. It is used throughout the New Testament, including in Matthew 27:46 and Acts 14:11, to describe the supreme being and creator of the universe.
Amplified meaning
the one true deity
Tyndale gloss
God
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

θεός (theos) means 'God' or 'a god' and is used in both singular and plural forms. It refers to the supreme deity in monotheistic contexts, as well as to lesser deities in polytheistic settings. The New Testament frequently employs this term, notably in verses like Matthew 27:46 and Acts 19:37. Some lexicons note its use as a title for rulers or magistrates, reflecting its broader application in ancient texts.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

θεός, -οῦ, ὁ, ἡ (Ac 19:37 only; v. M, Pr., 60, 244), late voc., θεέ (Mt 27:46; cf. De 3:24, al.),

[in LXX chiefly for אֱלֹהִים, also for אֵל and other cognate forms, יהוה, etc.;]

a god or deity, God.

In polytheistic sense, a god or deity: Ac 28:6, I Co 8:4, II Th 2:4, al.; pl., Ac. 14:11 19:26, Ga 4:8, al.

Of the one true God;

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

θεός, -οὔ, ὁ and ἡ, voc. θεέ, once in the N. T., Mt. xxvii. 46; besides in Deut. iii. 24; Judg. [xvi. 28;] xxi. 3; [2 S. vii. 25; Is. xxxviii. 20]; Sir. xxiii. 4; Sap. ix. 1; 3 Mace. vi. 3; 4 Mace. vi. 27; Act. Thom. 44 sq. 57; Eus. h. 6. 2, 23,16; [5, 20,7; vit. Const. 2,55, 1.59]; ef. W. §8, 2 ο.; [B. 12 (11)]; ({on the eight or more proposed derivations see Vaniéek p. 386, who follows Curtius (after Doderlein) p. 513 sqq. in connecting it with a root meaning to supplicate, implore; hence the implored ; per contra cf. Max Miiller, Chips ete. iv. 227 sq.; L. and 8. s. v. fin.]); [fr. Hom. down]; Sept. for 58, ΟΝ and m7; a god, a goddess; 1. a general appellation of deities or divinities: Acts xxviii. 6; 1 Co. viii. 4; 2 Th. ii. 4; once ἡ θεός, Acts xix. 37 G LT Tr WH; θεοῦ φωνὴ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρώπου, Acts xii. 22; ἄνθρωπος ὧν ποιεῖς σεαυτὸν θεόν, Jn. x. 33; plur., of the gods of the…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

θεός. For the application of the title θεός to the Ptolemaic kings it is sufficient to recall Brit. Mus. Inscrr. IV. 1 No. 906% (B.C. 284-273) where a votive offering is dedicated in honour of Πτολεμαίου τοῦ σωτῆρος καὶ θεοῦ, and the description of Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes) on the Rosetta stone—OG/S gol? (B.C. 196) ὑπάρχων θεὸς ἐκ θεοῦ Kal θεᾶς : cf. Deissmann LAE, p. 348 and the full discussion by E. Kornemann ‘‘ Zur Geschichte der antiken Herrscherkulte” in Beztrdge zur alten Geschichte [Klio] i., p. 51 ff. (Leipzig, 1902). The same practice is still more strikingly illustrated in the Imperial period, as when in an inscr. from the Fayum district, dated March 17th, B.c. 24, Augustus is described as θεὸς ἐκ θεοῦ (OG/S 6557), or as when a votive inscr. is addressed to Nero—daya0a(t) θεῶ(ι) (Cos 927): see Deissmann 7s. p. 349. With this may be compared the frequent use for Augustus of the…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

θεός (theos) — God.

θεός, ὁ,

Boeotian dialect θιός, Laconian dialect σιός (see. below), [Refs 5th c.AD+], Cretan dialect θιός [Refs], Doric dialect also θεύς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; vocative (only late) θεός, also θεέ [LXX+NT]; but classical in compound names, Ἀμφίθεε, Τιμόθεε:—God, the Deity, in general sense, both singular and plural (εἰ καὶ ἐπὶ θεοὺς καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπὶ θεὸν ἁρμόζει μεταφέρειν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; σὺν θ. εἰρημένον [Refs 5th c.BC+]: so in plural, σύν γε θεοῖσιν [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐ θεῶν ἄτερ pi.[Refs 8th c.BC+]; ὑπὲρ θεόν against his will,[Refs 4th c.BC+]; θεῶν συνεθελόντων, βουλομένων, [Refs 5th c.BC+]bless you! good heavens! for heaven's sake! [Refs 8th c.BC+]: doubled in poets, θεὸν θεόν τις ἀγλαϊζέτω [Refs 5th c.BC+]; θεοί (Cretan dialect θιοί) as an opening formula in Inscrr. (i.e. τύχην ἀγαθὴν διδοῖεν), [Refs].1, etc.: in Prose also with the Article, ὁ θ.…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

θεός

theos

of uncertain affinity; a deity, especially (with 3588) the supreme

Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very:--X exceeding,

God, god(-ly, -ward).

see GREEK for 3588

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

θεός, οῦ, ὁ

n.f. & n.m.

God, a god

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

θεός theos 1x

a deity, Acts 7:43; 1 Cor. 8:5; an idol, Acts 7:40; God, the true God, Mt. 3:9, et al. freq.; God, possessed of true godhead, Jn. 1:1; Rom. 9:5; from the Hebrew, applied to potentates, Jn. 10:34, 35; τῷ θεῷ, an intensive term, from the Hebrew, exceedingly, Acts 7:20, and, perhaps, 2 Cor. 10:4

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

θεός θεός, ὁ, God, Hom., both in general sense, Θεὸς δώσει God will grant, and in particular sense, θεός τις a god; πατὴρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε Hom.:—things are said to happen σὺν θεῷ, σύν γε θεοῖσιν by the will of God, id. Hom., etc.; οὐκ ἄνευ θεοῦ, Lat. non sine diis, Od.; οὐκ ἄνευθε θεοῦ Il.; οὐ θεῶν ἄτερ Pind.;— ἐκ θεόφι Il.;— ὑπὲρ θεόν against his will, id. Il.;— κατὰ θεόν τινα, Lat. divinitus, Eur.:—as an oath, πρὸς θεῶν by the gods, in God's name, Trag.; θεὸς ἴστω Soph., etc.

θεός as fem. for θεά, θέαινα, a goddess, Hom.; θήλεια θεός Il.; ἡ νερτέρα θ. Proserpine, Soph.; often in oaths, νὴ τὼ θεώ id. Soph.; ναὶ τὼ σιώ, with the Spartans, of Castor and Pollux, Xen.; with the Boeotians, of Amphion and Zethus, id.…

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Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-GSM — Noun · genitive · singular · masculine
genitive — of, from, belonging to.
Agrees with anything else marked singular masculine.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-GSM Part of Speech: Noun Case: Genitive Number: Singular Gender: Masculine

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

god ('Elohim, 'El, [`Elyon], Shadday, Yahweh; Theos):

I. INTRODUCTION TO THE GENERAL IDEA

1. The Idea in Experience and in Thought

2. Definition of the Idea

3. The Knowledge of God

4. Ethnic Ideas of God

(1) Animism

(2) Fetishism

(3) Idolatry

(4) Polytheism

(5) Henotheism

(6) Pantheism

(7) Deism

(8) Semitic Monolatry

(9) Monotheism

II. THE IDEA OF GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. The Course of Its Development

2. Forms of Its Manifestation

(1) The Face or Countenance of God

(2) The Voice and Word of God

(3) The Glory of God

(4) The Angel of God

(5) The Spirit of God

(6) The Name of God

(7) Occasional Forms

3. The Names of God

(1) Generic

(2) Attributive

(3) Yahweh

4. Pre-prophetic Conceptions of God

(1) Yahweh Alone Is the God of Israel

(a) His Early Worship

(b) Popular Religion

(c) Polytheistic Tendencies

(i) Coordination

(ii) Assimilation

(iii) Disintegration

(d) No Hebrew Goddesses

(e) Human Sacrifices

Easton's Bible Dictionary

God

(A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew ’El, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of ’Eloah_, plural _’Elohim. The singular form, Eloah, is used only in poetry. The plural form is more commonly used in all parts of the Bible, The Hebrew word Jehovah (q.v.), the only other word generally employed to denote the Supreme Being, is uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by “LORD,” printed in small capitals. The existence of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere any argument to prove it. He who disbelieves this truth is spoken of as one devoid of understanding (Ps. 14:1).

The arguments generally adduced by theologians in proof of the being of God are:

(1.) The a priori argument, which is the testimony afforded by reason.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(good). Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures two chief names are used for the one true divine Being--ELOHIM, commonly translated God in our version, and JEHOVAH, translated Lord . Elohim is the plural of Eloah (in Arabic Allah); it is often used in the short form EL (a word signifying strength , as in EL-SHADDAI, God Almighty, the name by which God was specially known to the patriarchs. (Genesis 17:1; 28:3; Exodus 6:3) The etymology is uncertain, but it is generally agreed that the primary idea is that of strength, power of effect , and that it properly describes God in that character in which he is exhibited to all men in his works, as the creator, sustainer and supreme governor of the world. The plural form of Elohim has given rise to much discussion. The fanciful idea that it…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

This name, the derivation of which is uncertain, we give to that eternal, infinite, perfect, and incomprehensible Being, the Creator of all things, who preserves and governs all by his almighty power and wisdom, and is the only proper object of worship. The proper Hebrew name for God is JEHOVAH, which signifies He is. But the Jews, from a feeling of reverence, avoid pronouncing this name, substituting for it, wherever it occurs in the sacred test, the word ADONAI, Lord; except in the expression, ADONAI JEHOVAH, Lord Jehovah, for which they put, ADONAI ELOHIM, Lord God. This usage, which is not without an element of superstition, is very ancient, dating its origin some centuries before Christ; but there is no good ground for assuming its existence in the days of the inspired Old Testament writers. The proper word for God is ELOHIM, which is plural in its form, being thus used to signify…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
96%god
god96% · 1289×other renderings3% · 34×other renderings1% · 19×

1,342 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 14 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
subject31%adverbial26%object24%predicate12%indirect object5%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 1,311 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
βασιλείαkingship, sovereλόγοςa word, speech, υἱόςa son, descenden
δέbut, on the other ha
Article theπαράδικαιοσύνηjustice, justnes
ἀπό
εἰρήνηpeace, peace of ὅτιthat, since, becἐγώ
καίand, even, also, nam
ἈβραάμPropἸσαάκPropΧριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
οὐNegυἱόςa son, descendenοὗτος
θεόςof God1311×
what comes after →
Article the
δίδωμιI offer, giveπαντοκράτωρruler of the uniπατήρfather, Father,
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theπατήρfather, Father, αὐτός
ἐγώ
καίand, even, also,Article theἐκβάλλωI throw, cast, p
ἐν
Article theαὐτόςΧριστόςanointed, the Me
εἰμίI am, exist
Article theκαίand, even, also,εἰς

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceθεός · 1,311× in the New Testament
Acts Romans Luke 1 Corinthians Revelation John 2 Corinthians Hebrews 1 John Matthew Mark 1 Peter

15 inflected forms — one of the commonest words in the New Testament. Full distribution →

Across the New Testament27 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 1,637 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas Ignatius of Antioch Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 7c. AD 40

Τινὲς γὰρ τὸν κόσμον μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν κοσμοποιὸν θαυμάσαντες τὸν μὲν ἀγένητόν τε καὶ ἀίδιον ἀπεφήναντο, τοῦ δὲ θεοῦ πολλὴν ἀπραξίαν ἀνάγνως κατεψεύσαντο, δέον ἔμπαλιν τοῦ μὲν τὰς δυνάμεις ὡς ποιητοῦ καὶ πατρὸς καταπλαγῆναι, τὸν δὲ μὴ πλέον ἀποσεμνῦναι…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.argc. AD 75–95

ὡς πύργος, ὃν οἱ παῖδες αὐτοῦ ἐφ' ὕβρει τοῦ θεοῦ ᾠκοδόμησαν, καὶ ὡς τὰς φωνὰς αὐτῶν μετέβαλε καὶ ὁ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ τοῦτο γέγονε, Βαβυλὼν ἐκλήθη.

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 1.2c. AD 100

Μεγάλων μὲν ὄντων καὶ πλουσίων τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ δικαιωμάτων εἰς ὑμᾶς, ὑπέρ τι καὶ καθ̓ ὑπερβολὴν ὑπερευφραίνομαι ἐπὶ τοῖς μακαρίοις καὶ ἐνδόξοις ὑμῶν πνεύμασιν: οὕτως ἔμφυτον τῆς δωρεᾶς πνευματικῆς χάριν εἰλήφατε.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
6th c. AD 2nd c. AD 7th c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD
P.Grenf. 2 33Pathyris101 BC

αὐτῷ μέρος ἧς ἐμισθώσατο σὺν Πακοίβι Σχώτου καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις γῆς σιτοφόρου λεγομένης Νεχθαραῦτι θεοῦ μεγάλου παρὰ τῶν ἱερέων ἐτῶν δέκα εἰς τὰ ἐνλιπόντα αὐτῷ ἑτέρων , τεσσάρων εἰς

P.Adl. 20Poinkoris (Diopolites)99 BC

1 βασιλευόντων Πτολεμαίου τοῦ καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου θεοῦ Φιλομήτορος καὶ Βερενίκης τῆς ἀδελφῆς θεᾶς Φιλαδέλφου ἔτους ἑκκαιδεκάτου ἐφʼ ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν καὶ

Chrest.Wilck. 12Pathyris89 BC

ἡμῖν Φιλόξενος ὁ ἀδελφὸς διʼ ὧν κεκόμικεν ἡμῖν Ὄρσης γραμμάτων περὶ τοῦ τὸν μέγιστον Θεὸν Σωτῆρα βασιλέα ἐπιβεβληκέναι εἰς Μέμφιν, Ἱέρακα δὲ προκεχειρίσθαι μετὰ δυνάμεων μυρίων ἐπὶ καταστολὴν τῆς

do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
ὡςhōs as G5613 Adverb
502× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means as or when, showing a comparison or timing. It's used in many verses, like Mark 4:26 and 1 Corinthians 3:15, to show how things are done. It helps explain how or when something happens.
Amplified meaning
like, in the manner of
Tyndale gloss
as/when
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ὡς is an adverb and conjunction derived from the relative pronoun ὅς. It is used in various contexts to mean 'as,' 'like,' or 'when,' and can indicate manner, comparison, or time. In the New Testament, it appears frequently to express similarity or to introduce clauses, such as in comparisons or temporal phrases. The lexicons do not show significant disagreement on its usage.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ὡς, adverbial form of the relative pron. ὅς, ἥ, ὅ.

As relat. adv. of manner, as, like as, just as, even as;

with a demonstrative, like οὕτως, expressed or understood: οὕτως . . . ὡς, Mk 4:26, I Co 3:15, Eph 5:28, Ja 2:12, al.; ὡς . . . οὕτως, Ac 8:32, I Co 7:17, al.; elliptically (sc. οὕτως, οὕτω), c. nom., Mt 6:29, al.; c. acc., Mt 19:19, Mk 12:31, al.; c. prep., Mt 26:55, Read the full entry →

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ὡς [ Treg. (by mistake) in Mt. xxiv. 38 ὥς; cf. W. 462 (431); Chandler § 934, and reff. in Ebeling, Lex. Hom. s. v. p. 494

Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ὡς. Ι. = “45: P Goodsp Cairo 44 (ii/B.c.) (= Selections, Ῥ- 24) εἰ tppwoar . .. εἴη dv ὡς αἱρούμεθα, “if you are well, it will be as we desire,” BGU I. 1637 (A.D. 108) καὶ yap ἄλλοι ὡς πληγέντες ὑπὸ αὐτοῦ ἀναφόριον δεδώκασι, “for others have given information (from time to time) ἃ5 having been assaulted by him,” P Flor I. 5618 (A.p. 234) ὡς καθήκει, and BGU IV. το. 1 (iv/y A.D.) κα]ταβληθῆναι ὡς φονέα. 2. = “that,” ‘ how,” after verbs of saying, thinking, etc.: P Tebt I. τοῦ (B.c. 119) φρόντισον ὡς τὰ τῆς ὑποσχέσεως ἐκπληρωθήσεται, “take care that the terms of his agreement are fulfilled” (Edd.), and P Tebt II. 4101? (i/A.D.) μν[ἤ]σθητι o[s] ἐν τῷ Τρ[ιστόμῳ pe ἐφιλοτ[ιυἹμοῦ σὺν ἐμοὶ μεῖναι, ‘remember how zealous you were at Tristomos to remain with me” (Fdd.). 3. Ὁ. ind. with dy, as in Σ Cor 125, cf. P Par 4615 (B.C. 152) ὡς ἂν εὐκαιρήσω, παραχρῆμα παρέσομαι πρός σε. 4. c. conj. with…

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Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ὡς (hōs) — as/when.

ὡς:—

Summary:

__A as adverb of Manner.

__A.Aa ὧς and ὥς (with accent), so, thus.

__A.Ab ὡς (without accent) of the Relat. pronoun ὅς, as.

__A.Ac ὡς Relat. and Interrog., how.

__A.Ad ὡς temporal, when.

__A.Ae ὡς Local, where,

__B ὡς, as CONJUNCTION.

__C,D various usages. adverb of Manner:

__A.Aa ὥς, Demonstr., ={οὕτως}, so, thus, frequently in [Refs 8th c.BC+]; in Ionic dialect Prose, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; ὥς simply ={οὕτως}, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

__A.2 καὶ ὧς even so, nevertheless, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; οὐδ᾽ ὧς not even so, [Refs 8th c.BC+] are used in Trag. and Attic dialect, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; κἂν ὧς, εἴπερ μέλει σοι, ἀπόστειλόν μοί τινα [Refs 4th c.AD+]; δουλεύων καθὼς καὶ ὧς [Refs 2nd c.BC+]; Thess. καὶ οὗς [Refs 3rd c.BC+]; for this phrase the accentuation ὧς[Refs 2nd…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

ὡς

hos

probably adverb of comparative from 3739; which how, i.e. in that

manner (very variously used, as follows):--about, after (that),

(according) as (it had been, it were), as soon (as), even as (like),

for, how (greatly), like (as, unto), since, so (that), that, to wit,

unto, when(-soever), while, X with all speed.

see GREEK for 3739

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ὡς

Adv

as, like as, how, while, so that

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ὡς hōs 504x

conjunction formed from the relative pronoun ὅς, used as a comparative part. and conj., as, correlatively, Mk. 4:26; Jn. 7:46; Rom. 5:15; as, like as, Mt. 10:16; Eph. 5:8; according as, Gal. 6:10; as, as it were, Rev. 8:8; as, Lk. 16:1; Acts 3:12; before numerals, about, Mk. 5:13; conj. that, Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ὡς thus, as, so that, since

A. ADVERB of Manner, either ὥς (with accent) Demonstr. so, thus, Lat. sic;— or ὡς (without accent) Relat. as, Lat. ut. B. ὡς, as CONJUNCTION. C, D. various usages.

of Manner:

ὥς, Demonstr. = οὕτως, so, thus, Lat. sic, Hom., Hdt.; rare in attic:— καὶ ὥς, even so, nevertheless, οὐδ᾽ ὥς, μηδ᾽ ὥς, not even so, in no wise, Hom., Soph.

in Comparisons, ὥς . . , ὡς . . , so . . as . . , Lat. sic . . ut . . , Il., Plat.

thus, for instance, Od.

ὡς, Relat., as, Lat. ut, first in Hom.; οὕτως ὡς, Lat. sic ut; but the antec. is often omitted: similes are commonly introduced by ὡς ὅτε, ὡς δ᾽ ὅτε, where ὅτε often seems superfluous, ἤριπε δ᾽, ὡς ὅτε πύργος [ἤριπε] Il.:—this ὡς takes the accent at the end of a clause or when it follows the word dependent on it; θεὸς δ᾽ ὣς τίετο δήμῳ Il.; οἱ δὲ φέβοντο, βόες ὥς…

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adv — Adverb
adverb — it qualifies the verb, and never changes form.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

ADV ADVerb or adverb and particle combined

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

az: Conj. and adverb (usually Greek hos hosper, kathos), designating:

(1) Likeness: (a) between nouns (Ge 3:5; Jud 6:5; Php 2:8; Heb 11:27,29); (b) between verbs (Lu 6:36; Joh 5:30; 1Co 10:7); (c) between adjectives (1Co 15:48).

(2) Limitation (with respect to a particular aspect or relation) (1Pe 4:15,16).

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
60%as
as60% · 310×like16% · 84×when8% · 41×how4% · 21×about4% · 20×other renderings6% · 33×other renderings1% · 7×

516 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 22 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
adverbial31%predicate12%object4%subject4%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 502 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
αὐτός
πρόσωπονthe face, counteπούςthe footδιδάσκωI teach
σύ
πλησίονnear, nearby, a καρδίαthe heart, innerἀποστέλλωI send forth, se
καίand, even, also, nam
πολύςmuch, many, ofteαὐτόςλαόςa people, the cr
ἀλλάbut, except
γαμίζωI give in marriaθέλωI will, wish, deφανερῶςclearly, openly
εἰμίI am, exist
ὥραan hour, seasonὅτιthat, since, becοὐNeg
ὡςas502×
what comes after →
Article the
κύριοςlord, Lord, mastἥλιοςthe sun, sunlighφῶςlight, a source
δέbut, on the other ha
πληρόωI fill, fulfill,γίνομαιI come into beinἀκούωI hear, listen
καίand, even, also, nam
Article theἐνἐγώ
φωνήa sound, noise, voic
ὕδωρwaterβροντήthunderἐν
ἐν
Article theοὐρανόςthe sky, the heaκρυπτόςhidden, secret

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceὡς · 502× in the New Testament
Revelation Acts Luke Matthew 1 Corinthians John 2 Corinthians 1 Peter Hebrews Mark Romans Ephesians

Every reference is on the Strong's page.

Across the New Testament26 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
τέκναteknon children G5043 Noun · nominative · plural · neuter
99× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
This word means a child, either male or female, born to parents, as mentioned in Matthew 7:11 and Romans 9:8.
Amplified meaning
born of God, His kids
Tyndale gloss
child
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

τέκνον (teknon) means a child, whether male or female, and can also refer to descendants or inhabitants. It is used in various contexts in the New Testament, including as a term of endearment and to denote spiritual offspring, particularly in relation to God. The word is derived from the verb meaning 'to bear' or 'to give birth.' Notably, it appears in verses like Matthew 2:18 and Romans 8:16.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

τέκνον, -ου, τό

(< τίκτω),

[in LXX chiefly for בֵּן, also for יֶלֶד, etc. ;]

that which is begotten, born (cf. Scottish bairn), a child of either sex: Mk 13:12, Lk 1:7, Ac 7:5; pl., Mt 7:11, Mk 7:27, Lk 1:17, Eph 6:1, al.; τέκνα ἐπαγγελίας, Ro 9:8; τ. τῆς σαρκός, ib.; in a wider sense (as Heb. בָּנִים), of posterity, Mt 2:18, Lk 3:8, al.…

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Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

τέκνον, -ov, τό, (τίκτω, τεκεῖν), fr. Hom. down, Sept. chiefly for 13, sometimes for ΠΩΣ offspring; plur. children; a. prop. a. univ. and without regard to sex, child: Mk. xiii. 12; Lk. i. 7: Acts vii.5; Rev. xii. 4; plur., Mt. vii. 11; x. 21; xv. 26; Mk. vii. 27; xii. 19; Lk.i.17; xiv. 26; Actsxxi.5; 2Co. xii. 14; Eph. vi. 1; Col. iii. 20sq.; 1 Th. ii. 7,11; 1 Tim. iii.4; Tit. i.6; 2Jn.1, 4,13, and often; with emphasis: to be regarded as true, genuine children, Ro. ix. 7; τέκνα ἐπαγγελίας, children begotten by virtue of the divine promise, Ro. ix. 8; accounted as children begotten by virtue of God’s promise, Gal. iv. 28; τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκός, children by natural descent, Ro. ix. 8. in a broader sense (like the Hebr. 0°33), posterity: Mt. ii. 18; iii. 9; Lk. iii. 8; Acts ii. 39; xiii. 33 (32). with emphasis: genuine posterity, true offspring, Jn. viii. 39; (of wo men) to be regarded as…

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Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

τέκνον. (1) The following may serve as exx. of this very common word = ‘“‘a child’’—P Amh II. 35% (B.c. 132) ὑπέρ τε τοῦ

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

τέκνον (teknon) — child.

τέκνον, τό,

(τίκτω,--οὐκ ἔστι μήτηρ ἡ κεκλημένου τέκνου τοκεύς, τροφὸς δὲ.. [Refs 4th c.BC+], child, ἄλοχοι καὶ νήπια τέκνα [Refs 8th c.BC+]; γυναῖκες καὶ τ. [Refs 5th c.BC+], etc.: the singular is used by [Refs 8th c.BC+] only in vocative, as a form of address from elders to their youngers, my son, my child, sometimes with masculine adjective, φίλε τέκνον [Refs 8th c.BC+]: the relative pronoun or Participle sometimes follows in masculine or feminine, [Refs 5th c.BC+]:—the word is used in Prose at Cyrene, [Refs 4th c.BC+] in Attic dialect Prose, [LXX+5th c.BC+]; rare in Comedy texts except in paratragoedic passages, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; in Trag. it is generally used with especially reference to the mother, ὦ τέκνον Νηρῇδος, ὦ παῖ Πηλέως [Refs 5th c.BC+]; Ἀγαμέμνονος παῖ (sic codices) καὶ Κλυταιμήστρας τέκνον…

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Strong's Greek Dictionary

τέκνον

teknon

from the base of 5098; a child (as produced):--child, daughter, son.

see GREEK for 5098

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

τέκνον, ου, τό

n.n.

a child, descendent, inhabitant

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

τέκνον teknon 99x

a child, a son or daughter, Mt. 2:18; Lk. 1:7; pl. descendants, posterity, Mt. 3:9; Acts 2:39; child, son, as a term of endearment, Mt. 9:2; Mk. 2:5; 10:24; pl. children, inhabitants, people, of a city, Mt. 23:37; Lk. 19:44; from the Hebrew, met. a child or son in virtue of discipleship, 1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:2; Read the full entry →

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

τέκνον τέκνον, ου, τό, τίκτω that which is borne or born, a child (cf. Scottish bairn, from Anglo-S. beran, to bear), Hom., etc.; my son, my child, sometimes with masc. adj., φίλε τέκνον id. Hom.; the relat. Pron. or Participle often follows in masc. or fem.

of animals, the young, id. Hom., etc.

metaph., flowers are γαίας τέκνα Aesch.; birds αἰθέρος τέκνα Eur.

The penult. is long in Hom., in Trag. more often short.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Noun-NPN — Noun · nominative · plural · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

N-NPN Part of Speech: Noun Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Smith's Bible Dictionary

The blessing of offspring, but especially of the male sex, is highly valued among all eastern nations, while a the absence is regarded as one of the severest punishments. (Genesis 16:2; 7:14; 1 Samuel 1:6; 2 Samuel 6:23; 2 Kings 4:14; Isaiah 47:9; Jeremiah 20:15; Psalms 127:3,5) As soon as the child was born it was washed in a bath, rubbed with salt and wrapped in swaddling clothes. (Ezekiel 16:4; Job 38:9; Luke…

A numerous offspring was regarded as a signal blessing, Ps 127:3-5, and childless wives sought various means to escape the reproach of barrenness, which was deprecated in the blessing given to a newly married couple, Ru 4:11. The pangs of childbirth, in their suddenness and sharpness, are often alluded to in Scripture. The apostle Paul speaks of them as fruits and evidences of the fall; but assures those who abide in faith, that, amid all the suffering that reminds them that woman was first in the transgression, Ge 3:16, they may yet look trustfully to God for acceptance and salvation, 1Ti 2:15.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ In answer to prayer

To Abraham Ge 15:2-5; with 21:1,2

Isaac Ge 25:21

Leah Ge 30:17-22

Rachel Ge 30:22-24

Hannah 1Sa 1:9-20

Zacharias Lu 1:13

→ Treatment of, at birth Eze 16:4-6; Lu 2:7,12

→ Circumcision of

→ See CIRCUMCISION

→ Dedicated to God in infancy

Samson Jud 13:5,7

Samuel 1Sa 1:24-28

Torrey's New Topical Textbook

- Christ was an example to

Lu 2:51; Joh 19:26,27

- Are a gift from God

Ge 33:5; Ps 127:3

- Are capable of glorifying God

Ps 8:2; 148:12,13; Mt 21:15,16

- SHOULD BE

. Brought to Christ

Mr 10:13-16

. Brought early to the house of God

1Sa 1:24

. Instructed in the ways of God

De 31:12,13; Pr 22:6

. Judiciously trained

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
77%children
children77% · 76×child17% · 17×son4% · 4×other renderings2% · 2×

99 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 5 different ways. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
object31%subject18%predicate18%adverbial10%indirect object9%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 99 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
καίand, even, also,δίδωμιI offer, giveἄρτοςbread, a loaf, f
αὐτός
λέγωI say, speakεἰμίI am, existμήτηρa mother
ὡςas, like as, how, wh
ἀλλάbut, exceptἀντιμισθίαa reward, recompθεόςGod, a god
πατήρfather, Father, ance
καίand, even, also,ὡςas, like as, how
Disj
μήτηρa motherπατήρfather, Father, γονεύςa parent
τέκνονchildren99×
what comes after →
Article the
θεόςGod, a godἈβραάμPropσάρξflesh, body
σύ
πόσοςὅςπάντοτεalways, at all t
καίand, even, also, nam
ἐπανίστημιI rise up againsArticle theβάλλωI cast, throw, r
αὐτός
καίand, even, also,ὅςἀποκτείνωI put to death,
ἐγώ
ἀνίστημιI raise up, set ἀγαπητόςloved, belovedὅς

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceτέκνον · 99× in the New Testament
Luke Matthew Mark Romans 1 John 1 Timothy Acts Ephesians Galatians 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians 2 John
Across the New Testament23 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Josephus Philo of Alexandria The Didache The Epistle of Barnabas Clement of Rome
Philo of AlexandriaOn the Creation of the World 167c. AD 40

ἡ μὲν γυνὴ σφοδρὰς ἀνίας ἐνδεξαμένη τὰς ἐν ὠδῖσι καὶ τὰς παρὰ τὸν ἄλλον βίον λύπας ἐπαλλήλους καὶ μάλιστα τὰς ἐπὶ τέκνοις γεννωμένοις καὶ τρεφομένοις καὶ νοσοῦσι καὶ ὑγιαίνουσι καὶ εὐτυχοῦσι καὶ ἀτυχοῦσιν, εἶτ’ ἀφαίρεσιν ἐλευθερίας καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ…

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 1.74c. AD 75–95

Νῶχος δὲ τοῖς πραττομένοις ὑπʼ αὐτῶν δυσχεραίνων καὶ τοῖς βουλεύμασιν ἀηδῶς ἔχων ἔπειθεν ἐπὶ τὸ κρεῖττον τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰς πράξεις μεταφέρειν, ὁρῶν δʼ οὐκ ἐνδιδόντας, ἀλλʼ ἰσχυρῶς ὑπὸ τῆς ἡδονῆς τῶν κακῶν κεκρατημένους, δείσας μὴ καὶ…

The Epistle of BarnabasThe Epistle of Barnabas 7.1c. AD 100

Οὐκοῦν νοεῖτε, τέκνα εὐφροσύνης, ὅτι πάντα ὁ καλὸς κύριος προεφανέρωσεν ἡμῖν, ἵνα γνῶμεν, ᾧ κατὰ πάντα εὐχαριστοῦντες ὀφείλομεν αἰνεῖν.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
2nd c. AD 3rd c. AD 4th c. AD 1st c. AD 6th c. AD
P.Bon. 24 aTebtynis (Arsinoites)AD 135

π … ικ … οικ … ἀπηλιώτου πρότερον τοῦ προγεγραμμένου Προκτηρος … νυνὶ δὲ τέκνων Μυς … τοῦ Φ … … ωπ … ικαι … … , καὶ ἀπέχειν

P.Athen.. 35Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 154

ἐστὶν ἡ πέμπτη τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος μηνὸς Φαρμοῦθι καὶ παραστήσειν τὸν μὲν Ζεναμοῦνιν τὰ ἑαυτοῦ τέκνα εἰς τὸ ἁλιεύειν καὶ πωλεῖν καὶ Πετεσοῦχον ὡσαύτως δὲ παραστήσειν σὺν τοῖς προγεγραμμένοις τοὺς

P.Berl.Leihg. 1 24Theadelphia (Arsinoites)AD 169

Πτολεμαῖος ἐπίτροπος Σερήνου ἀντεξηγητοῦ καὶ Πλουτάμμωνος ἀφηλίκων τέκνων Σαραπίωνος Ἠπιοδώρου Ἰσιδώρῳ Νικάνδρου μισθωτῇ χαίρειν. ἀπέχω παρὰ σοῦ τὸν χειμερινὸν φόρον κήπου παραδείσου,

do be therefore imitators <the> of God as children beloved
ἀγαπητὰagapētos beloved G27 Adjective · nominative · plural · neuter
61× in the NT scale is logarithmic — ὁ, the commonest word, appears 19,867×
commoner in Ephesians than anywhere else in the New Testament
In plain English
Meaning
Beloved means to be loved or cherished by someone, like God or a friend, as seen in Matthew 3:17 and Romans 1:7. This word describes a sense of affection or fondness. It is often translated as 'beloved' or 'dearly loved' in the KJV Bible.
Amplified meaning
cherished, dearly loved
Tyndale gloss
beloved
Greek lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Greek word ἀγαπητός (*agapetos*) means 'beloved' or 'dear,' derived from the verb ἀγαπάω (*agapaō*). It is used in the New Testament to describe Jesus as beloved by God (e.g., Mt 3:17) and to refer to Christians as beloved among one another (e.g., Ro 1:7). The word also appears in various forms of address, highlighting its affectionate connotation.

Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the NT

ἀγαπητός, -ή, -όν

(< ἀγαπάω),

[in LXX chiefly for יָתִיד, יָדִיד;]

beloved (v. M, Pr., 221);

by God: of Christ, Mt 3:17; of men, Ro 1:7;

by Christians, of one another: I Co 4:14; freq. as form of address, I Co 10:14; opp. to ἐχθρός, Ro 11:28 (v. AR, Eph., 229; Cremer, 17; MM, VGT, s.v.).

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament from a scan

ἀγαπητός, τή, -dv, (ἀγαπάω), beloved, esteemed, dear, favorite; (opp. to ἐχθρός, Ro. xi. 28): 6 vids μου (τοῦ Θεοῦ) ὁ ἀγαπητός, of Jesus, the Messiah, Mt. 111. 17 "Ayap fhere WH mrg. take ὁ dy. absol., connecting it with what follows]; xii. 18; xvii. 5; Mk. i. 11; ix. 7; Lk. iii. 22; ix. 35 (where Lmrg. T Tr WH ὁ ἐκλελεγμένος) ; 2 Pet. i. 17, cf. Mk. xii. 6; Lk. xx. 13; [cf. Ascensio Isa. (ed. Dillmann) vii. 23 sq.; viii. 18, 25,ete.]. dyaπητοὶ Θεοῦ [W. 194 (182 sq.) ; B. 190 (165)] is applied to Christians as being reconciled to God and judged by him to be worthy of eternal life: Ro. i. 7, οἵ. xi. 28; 1 Th. i. 4; Col. iii. 12, (Sept., Ps. lix. (Ix.) 7; evii. (eviii.) 7; exxvi. (exxvii.) 2, ἀγαπητοί σου and αὐτοῦ, of pious Israelites). But Christians, bound together by mutual love, are ἀγαπητοί also to one another (Philem. 16; 1 Tim. vi. 2); hence they are dignified with this epithet…

Read the full entry →
Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek Testament from a scan

ἀγαπητός. For the use of this characteristic NT designation in the Christian papyri, see for example the address of the muchdiscussed letter of Psenosiris P Grenf II. 73 (late iii/a.p.) (= Selections, p. 117), ᾿Απόλλωνι πρεσβυτέρῳ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ ἐν K(upl)w χαίρειν. So P Lond 417} (c. Α.1.. 346) (ΞΞ 11. p. 299, Sevectéons, Ὁ. 123), P Heid 67 (iv/a.D.) (= Selections, p. 125) α΄. The word is also found in a horoscope of A.D. 20-50 addressed to a certain Tryphon—P Oxy II. 235°, Τρύφων ἀγᾳπετέ : he may of course have been a Jew— see on the fem. T'pvpatwa below.

Liddell-Scott-Jones, full edition

ἀγαπητός (agapētos) — beloved.

ἀγαπ-ητός, ή, όν,

Doric dialect ἀγαπ-ᾱτός, ά, όν, that wherewith one must be content [Refs], hence of only children, μοῦνος ἐὼν ἀ.[NT+8th c.BC+]; ἀγαπητός· μονογενής, [Refs 4th c.BC+]

2. to be acquiesced in (as the least in a choice of evils), [Refs 5th c.BC+] —hence, ἀγαπητόν [ἐστι] one must be content, εἰ.., ἐάν.. [Refs 5th c.BC+]; with infinitive, [Refs]

II. of things, desirable, ἤθη[Refs 5th c.BC+]

II.2. of persons, beloved, ἀδελφὲ ἀγαπητέ[LXX]: in letters, as a term of address, [NT]

III. adverb -τῶς gladly, contentedly, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

III.2. just enough to content one, barely, scarcely, [Refs 5th c.BC+]

Strong's Greek Dictionary

ἀγαπητός

agapetos

from 25; beloved:--(dearly, well) beloved, dear.

see GREEK for 25

Dodson Greek-English Lexicon

ἀγαπητός, ή, όν

Adj

loved, beloved

Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary

ἀγαπητός agapētos 61x

beloved, dear; worthy of love

Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones

ἀγαπητός verb. adj. ἀγαπάω, beloved, of an only son, Hom., Dem.

of things, worthy of love, loveable, dear, Plat., etc.

to be acquiesced in (as the least in a choice of evils), ἀγαπητόν [ἐστι] one must be content, εἰ.., ἐάν.., id. Plat., Xen., etc.

adv. -τῶς, cheerfully, contentedly, Plat., Dem., etc.

just enough to content one, only just, barely, scarcely, Plat.

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj-NPN — Adjective · nominative · plural · neuter
nominative — the one doing it — the subject.
Agrees with anything else marked plural neuter.
Robinson's Morphological Analysis Codes

A-NPN Part of Speech: Adjective Case: Nominative Number: Plural Gender: Neuter

Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

be-luv'-ed, be-luv'-d' (agapetos): A term of affectionate endearment common to both Testaments; in the Old Testament found, 26 out of 42 times, in Solomon's So of Love. Limited chiefly to two Heb words and their derivatives: 'ahebh, "to breathe" or "long for," hence, to love, corresponding to the New Testament, agapao, "to prefer," i.e. a love based on respect and benevolent regard; dodh, "love," chiefly love between the sexes, based on sense and emotion, akin to phileo (Latin amare). Used occasionally, in their nobler sense, interchangeably, e.g. the former of a husband's love for his wife (De 21:15,16); twice of a lover (So 1:14,16), thus lifting the affection of the So of Solomon out of mere amorousness into the realm of the spiritual and possibly Messianic. Both words used of…

Into Englishhow translators actually render it
100%beloved
beloved100% · 61×

61 occurrences in the New Testament, rendered 1 different way. The commonest English word for it is not its meaning — it is one translator's decision, repeated.

What it does in the sentencefrom the Nestle 1904 treebank
predicate16%subject10%object10%adverbial7%indirect object7%

Parsing tells you the form; the treebank tells you the job. Counted over all 61 occurrences — a word inside a phrase counts towards whatever that phrase is doing.

The phrases it lives inwhat stands either side of it, across the New Testament
← what comes before
Article the
ἐγώΤυχικόςTychicusαἱρετίζωI choose
ἐγώ
ἀδελφόςa brotherτέκνονa child, descend
τέκνονa child, descendent,
ἐγώὡςas, like as, how
καίand, even, also, nam
πιστόςtrustworthy, faiεἰμίI am, exist
σύ
περίλανθάνωI am hidden, esc
ἀγαπητόςbeloved61×
what comes after →
ἐγώ
ὅςΒαρναβᾶςBarnabasἐν
ἐν
ὅςσύ
καίand, even, also, nam
πιστόςtrustworthy, faiἐπιπόθητοςlonged for, missΔημᾶςDemas
ἀδελφόςa brother
καίand, even, also,ὅς
μήNeg
ξενίζωI entertain a stπᾶςall, the whole, μιμέομαιI imitate

branches are dictionary forms, so endings do not split one phrase into five; the number on a branch is how many times the New Testament takes that path

Concordanceἀγαπητός · 61× in the New Testament
Romans 1 John 2 Peter 1 Corinthians 3 John Colossians James Jude Matthew Mark Philippians 1 Peter
Across the New Testament21 of 27 books
MtMkLkJnAcRo1Co2CoGaEphPhpCol1Th2Th1Ti2TiTitPhmHebJas1Pe2Pe1Jn2Jn3JnJudRev
The Hebrew behind itwhat the Septuagint translators were rendering

Counted over the 13 Old Testament verses where this Greek word stands: which Hebrew word keeps standing there too. A correspondence of verses rather than a word-by-word alignment, so read the percentage as strength of evidence, not as a claim about any single verse.

Outside the New Testamentthe same word in the Greek of its own century
Philo of Alexandria Clement of Rome Ignatius of Antioch Josephus The Shepherd of Hermas
Philo of AlexandriaAllegorical Interpretation of Genesis 1.86c. AD 40

ἀγαπητὸν οὖν ἐστιν ἀντιβῆναι καὶ μαχέσασθαι τῷ γένει τῆς ἐπιθυμίας.

JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 12.302c. AD 75–95

νῦν γὰρ ἔστιν ἀνδρείως ἀγωνισαμένοις τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀπολαβεῖν, ἣν καὶ διʼ αὐτὴν ἅπασιν ἀγαπητὴν οὖσαν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ἐξουσίας τοῦ θρησκεύειν τὸ θεῖον ποθεινοτέραν εἶναι συμβέβηκεν.

Clement of RomeFirst Clement 7.1c. AD 96

Ταῦτα, ἀγαπητοί, οὐ μόνον ὑμᾶς νουθετοῦντες ἐπιστέλλομεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ὑπομιμνήσκοντες: ἐν γὰρ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐσμὲν σκάμματι, καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν ἀγὼν ἐπίκειται.

In the everyday Greek (the secular world, not the church)letters, leases, receipts — nobody writing one is trying to sound biblical
4th c. AD 3rd c. AD 5th c. AD 6th c. AD 7th c. AD
P.Nag Hamm. 73AD 201–AD 400

r τῷ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ … Σανσνῶτι καὶ Ἀπο … τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ

P.Lond. 6 1914Herakleopolites bzw. KynopolitesAD 335

r,ctr τῷ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ ἄπα Παιηοῦ καὶ Παταβεὶτ πρεσβυτέροις Καλλιστος ἐν κυρίῳ θεῷ χαίρειν. γινώσκειν ὑμᾶς θέλομεν

P.Lond. 6 1916Herakleopolites bzw. KynopolitesAD 330–AD 340

r,ctr τοῖς παναγίοις ἀγαπητοῖς καὶ γλυκυτάτοις Παιηοῦτι πρεσβυτέρῳ καὶ Διοσκόρῳ καὶ Ἱέρακι καὶ … καὶ ἄπα Σουροῦ καὶ

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

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